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Publicising Your Blog

OK, you now have a kick ass blog. Congrats.

But nobody's looking at it. So what now?

Now, you have work to do.

The Obvious Ways To Publicise Your Blog
The most obvious way, to let everybody know about your blog, is to go into every forum and post
Hey everybody look at my blog! http://myblogexample.blogspot.com
Please don't do that. If you do, you'll be labeled a newbie, or maybe a spammer. You don't want to be labeled a spammer at Google Blogger Help, for instance. Spammers lose their accounts.

And there are still more ways of increasing traffic, to your blog, that make no more sense. The task before you is obvious (to some), yet paradoxical (to others).
  1. Write content.
  2. Get linked.

Write Content
This is the obvious part, to some. If you're going to be indexed by the search engines, you have to have content for them to link to. Make your content Accurate, Attractive, Complete, Relevant, and Timely. The more you publish, the more traffic you will get.

Work on publishing a blog with content to attract readers, to start. You can add ads and make money, and design a pretty blog with shiny accessories, after you get readers.

Get Linked By As Many Sites As Possible
This is the paradoxical part. To publicise your blog, your blog has to be properly indexed by the search engines. To be indexed, you have to have weight. To have weight, you have to be linked already. This part takes hard work, and relevance.
  1. Post comments on web sites, of relevant content, with links to your blog.
  2. Participate in forums, and other social networking venues, with links to your blog.
  3. Share your blog, and link to key articles, in social networking sites like FaceBook, Google+, and Twitter.
  4. Get your friends, with relevant content, to link to your blog.
  5. Make your blog part of the Blogger community, by Following and being Followed.
  6. Be observant here! Follow conventions and regulations, in each forum and venue, regarding links and other advertising techniques. Be polite - don't spam - only post where your blog is welcomed!!

Why Is Relevance Important?
Why is relevance important? Because relevance brings the right reputation, and the right reputation brings repeat traffic. You want the right reputation. Don't be like Doug Powell of BibleDesk fame. Doug is "gathering souls for Christ", by being devious.

Relevance is based on content (what is in the blog), not on name or title (what is outside the blog).

Get indexed based on your content, not on what you think will attract traffic, or make money.

Search For Relevant Blogs and Forums
Start out by identifying blogs and forums, which are relevant to your blog's content. Two ways of finding relevant blogs and forums are Google Blog Search, and Blogger Profile Surfing. Even if you don't identify immediate targets, you should find some ideas how to identify good places to start.

Read and Comment On Relevant Blogs
When you find blogs with posts relevant to yours, make polite and relevant comments. You can link to your blog and / or your posts, discretely.

If you're allowed to post comments anonymously (anonymous comments are optional for Blogger blogs, and chosen by each blog owner), you can link your name with a URL. If you post under your Blogger user name, you'll link back to your Blogger profile. Or, you can put an in text link to a post, in the comment body.

Other people will eventually link to your blog, in blogrolls, when you're lucky. When they do, don't try to manipulate the blogroll entries.

Participate In Social Networking
If you want to post in a forum, participate in the discussions. Answer a question or two. Build a reputation.

After you help or participate for a while, you'll know what needs saying. Write some blog articles, based upon what you posted. When you have relevant articles, you link to them in the body of your message in the forum. Don't advertise the blog in the body of your posts - that's for spammers and trolls. Always link to specific blog posts, and always cite relevant links.
Don't depend upon your ISP, or your blog host, to get traffic to your blog. You need the search engines - that's how folks look for help, and that's how they will find your blog.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2006/07/publicising-your-blog.html
Forums were the original social networking venue. Blogger actively encourages us to participate in many social networking activities, such as FaceBook and Twitter, which provide better opportunities for interacting with our peers.

Social networking, properly exploited, will get you a reputation. That's good. But if you really want traffic, you have to write articles that people need or want to read, and you have to get your blog indexed by the search engines. People looking for help use Google ("Google for it!"), or another search engine.

Use Blogger Native Features

Many search engines will index your blog, using native Blogger features. Under Settings - Publishing
  • Set "Add your blog to our listings?" to "Yes", to get linked from "Next Blog", which helps to get you initial visits.
  • Set "Let search engines find your blog?" to "Yes", to get indexed by the search engine spiders, which helps to get you later visits.

Be sure to activate the native syndication (Atom / RSS) feeds, provided by Blogger. Many search engines will use newsfeeds to track updates on your blog. Checkout the Blogger Help article Blog Search FAQ, for more ideas about Blogger native tools useful in publicising your blog.

Get Indexed By The Search Engines
You can submit your blog to the search engines anytime it pleases you, but your best results will happen when you understand what the search engines are looking for.

There are significant differences between an Old (Classic) Template, and a New (Layouts) Template blog.

To get The Real Blogger Status properly indexed, I added the meta tag search description entries.

Now, the meta tags describe your blog as you see it. Think of how the search engine spider might see it - are all pages (posts) in the blog easily accessed from the main page? Think about that question, then check your blog (website) using Sala's HTML Graph Applet, and see how many nodes you have in your website (blog).

Having setup my meta description and keywords, I can now submit my blog to the search enginesThese are but a few examples; there are dozens of possibilities.

And next, I would have created a Google Sitemap - but that is not necessary, any more.

Finally, remember that you need people who will return to your blog. And you need people who will bookmark your blog, or better yet, post links to your blog, online. You'll get this most readily when you make sure that your visitors leave your blog, happy.

For more information:


Having done all of the above, don't expect to be listed on the first page of the hit lists, overnight. And, don't expect to be listed on the first page, forever. Even so, remember that SERP Page One Position One carries a surprisingly large advantage, over any other SERP page / position.

Comments

Rosemary said…
Very well written tutorial.

BV
Vivek Sanghi said…
very impressive. thanks for the gr8 links.
Skanky Jane said…
FINALLY!!

Thanks Chuck - this is so well presented that even a newbie dummy like me could do it! (Added the meta description and meta keywords)

Well, truthfully I still have a ways to go (haven't added the atom and RSS feeds to the meta data stuff but I'll get there - with your help!)

Thanks a heap man!

SJ xx
bronnamdi said…
This tutorial is very welcome. Thanks for making it available for free. You will continue to get so many visitors to your blog with such content. I shall be back.
Karim said…
Hey, I agree, thanks a lot. The whole meta tag thing is really helpful.

Cheers.

(PS: Tom Clancy sucks.)

Crumbs.

http://kroms.blogspot.com/

(See? Using it all ready.)
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the info. It was exactly what I was looking for. Keep up the good work.
Martin
http://www.martinsinblogg.blogspot.com/
Anonymous said…
Chuck,

Arrgh! I'm a dummy!

Here's what I find at the top of my template HTML (I've deleted first and last carrots and HTML tags to enable this to submit):

data:blog.pageTitle/>
![CDATA[/*

Is this the same as the references you made above ($BlogPageTitle$, etc.)?

Laurie
Nitecruzr said…
Hi Laurie,

You're looking at a New (Layouts) Template blog, right?

Your frustration is not unusual. Your conclusions are close, so I added an article to, hopefully, make this easier to understand.
macwells said…
Wow, thank you! Looks like I have my work cut out for me!
mary cardenas wells
http://macwellscreative.blogspot.com/
Binky said…
Thanks SO much. You are a treasure trove of useful information, and I really appreciate it.
uTie said…
hi chuck,

your blog has been a great help for me, i even linked it. anyway, i'm still such a dummy in blogging. i couldn't find my blog in search engine, and this is what i'm looking for. but there's no meta tag in my html. this is such a dumb question, but do i have to create it?
Anonymous said…
very good tutorial for the beginer specially. I linked your blog. Now I know something about blog
jeisea said…
Thanks for this. You have a talent for easy explanations. Much appreciated.
jeisea
drashkum said…
THANKS BUDDY I WAS A NEWBIE TOO WHEN I POSTED A SIMILAR QUESTION IN MY BLOG NOW I HAVE EDITED THAT POST AND LINKED YOUR BLOG TO IT. THANKS A LOT
Twocdubs said…
Awesome info for people new to blogging. I just started rateyourshow.blogspot.com to keep up with all the tv shows. This info is great.

Thanks
Rob said…
Thanks. Excellent information.
Joe Chiappetta said…
Great blog with so many helpful tips. I have put them into practice and it has certainly got more people to find my comics. Thanks so much.
Petey Flipp said…
hi..im a kid and i have a blog too and i want to be able to get people to be able to find it if they search "we love club penguin" on google or something like that and i dont want any inappropriate content...how can i make sure that people wont go and post bad comments? also, how can they find it on google? when i type in my title for my blog, a link to my blog doesn't come up....why not?
Nitecruzr said…
Hi Petey,

There are no easy answers for your questions. The world is full of wicked and hateful people, and from the Internet, some of them can find you.

I think that the best answer is to publicise your blog slowly. When you think of publicising your blog somewhere, look at the people who hang out there, and ask your self what those people seem to like to do? Will they like your blog, or will they make fun of it? If the latter, find somewhere else to post.

And involve your parents. They may have ideas about what places to avoid. If your parents got you this far, thank them, and listen to their advice.

And start your blog slowly. It's easier to add cooperative, sympathetic readers later, then to remove unsympathetic readers.
Unknown said…
Thanks for all this informations.

M

http://shivayog.blogspot.com/
Unknown said…
Thank you for the great information. I have been trying to get a blog going to sell my jewelers loupes and I think this will help.
Lois
http://stores.ebay.com/ANUATED
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the tutorial. It was very informative. I see now that I have a lot of work to do!

http://ibedang.blogspot.com/
3838dot said…
cool thanks alot!
Carole said…
All sounds very confusing to someone who communicates via brush to canvas and has senior or blonde moments all the time!
And I don't know how to put my blog link on this message either - doh!
The eMarketer said…
Thanks - I read in time your blog to stop me from making mistakes even before starting!
One question - when you mention about the 'title' tag you mean the real name of the blog? I am thinking of a nickname - or better, a neologism. would this have a negative impact on the search engine indexing?

cheers
Nitecruzr said…
Your blog has 3 distinct identity elements - the Name (part of the URL), the Title (which may look like its name), and the Description (where anything can go). You can change the latter 2 at will, with no consequence.
Nic said…
Very useful. I am still a complete monkey as far as the meta-tags thing goes, no idea where I should be putting them, but the other stuff was fab, do-able by someone who was challenged for 3 days on changing from the usual delightful blogger backgrounds.

More like this please! and something even simpler on metas for dullards like me!!
Shey said…
For a newbie (like me) who has limited grasp of HTML codes or web parlance, these tips and tutorials are absolutely helpful. It took me time to understand what meta tags are, but I think I did it. Thanks to You!


http://shey-strides.blogspot.com/
~ Melanie ~ said…
I'm VERY new to blogging and so have spent A LOT of time searching a lot of Help sites. Yours is BY FAR the easiest to read and understand, the most detailed thorough! Thank you so much!!
Melanie
http://coursesonhorses.blogspot.com
American Sarta said…
I am a virgin to blogging. All the information is very helpful. Thank you!

Sus
http://haberdashercodex.blogspot.com
Anonymous said…
Very Helpful.
I started a blog on international issues and theories, and find it hard to drive traffic to it

I am finding that an important piece of the puzzle is to be true to yourself, to post things that matter to you, so that your content is intriguing, and original, and YOU because why do people read blogs? in essence to connect to other people's points of views.
feebs said…
OH. i feel much better already. very well written. thank you
http://mmm-delicious.blogspot.com
Ndivhuwo said…
Thank you very much, i didnt know that i realy appreciate it.
http://cpu-overclokers.blogspot.com/
Anony said…
This is so amazing to me. Sometimes, you really do get what you need when you need it. I just came back from my daily walk with my dog. As I was walking, I was thinking about reputation, my reputation as a blogger. I have been posting with what I thought was genuine concern, but with links to my site. The first thing I see when I open up my computer is this post, about reputation. Thank you.

Just build a consistent Voice, as Chuck has done here. That is my reputation. Links and visitors come from that, not look at me, look at me!

As Always,
TOB
Anonymous said…
WOw, excellent advice!

Ruth
http://iloveflavourme.blogspot.com/
This is an informative and facilitating eye opener for any blogger who is desirous of pulling traffic and getting established. Thanks in a million. I will be coming back.
Venkat said…
Great! That's really helpful.
MediafirePros said…
my blog in the blogger search engines does not show up
Nitecruzr said…
If your blog in the blogger search engines does not show up, you report in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, and get peer support.
PlayTheNifty said…
Your blog was the #1 result for "publicise blog" in google. You deserve the excellent ranking for all your efforts - I don't think you left anything out. Thanks!!!
hedgewatching said…
Thanks for the helpful advice.
Very informative and explained in detail, thanks.

discover-srilanka.blogspot.com
Chris Bartley said…
awsome help ive jumped from 18,000,000 on alexa to 2,783,000 - looking forward to being in the top 1,000,000 thanks,Best Price Gift Ideas - http://bestpricegifts.blogspot.com
Admin said…
Very informative post sir, thanks for it, thumps up.

john
Mrs Ted said…
Thanks for the tips I used most of them. I've just started writing and was really grateful with your help.

Mrs Ted
Ocean808 said…
Thanks for the tips! The links in your tutorial that lead to the specific topic really helped a lot.
MAYANK KUMAR said…
Its awesome man.....especially the tags part!!
vicky said…
Thanks SO much.
it's very useful
Jamal said…
Hello, I am a newbie.
Thank you so much for this very helpful tips & guide.

Appreciate it..
Olivia Burn said…
Thanks for the tips!

- Olivia xx
http://that-is-my-style.blogspot.com
Festo said…
Hi,

Thanks for the tips. I will implement them right away.
Anonymous said…
Thanks a lot for this... better still, i know it worked for you because you were top of a google search, haha, can't cite better success than that!
Anonymous said…
Oh dear, so much more still to do!! But I do appreciate your guidance. Quick question: if I already use a blog template, with this work - or be discarded - if I change my Profile to Google+ ?
Nitecruzr said…
Diane,

Just do a little bit each day, as you have time - you don't have to do all of it at once. Doing some now, and more later, is better than doing nothing until you have the time to spare. It's like my concept of progressive publishing.

The end result of all of this work is better reputation, more traffic, and more readers. Using a blog template - and using a Google+ profile - are simply two ways of making your blog more attractive, and more visible. None of this should be discarded, by changing your Profile.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2008/11/making-blog-or-website-is-progressive.html
Groovy Educator said…
Thank you so much! I am new to this and still a little confused about meta tags. Your site is what I have been looking for. I look forward to reading more of your posts!

Andrea
http://groovyeducator.blogspot.com/
admin said…
THANKS....REALLY HELPFUL
Phrases For Fun said…
Thanks so much for the help, hopefully ill do everything correctly!
Unknown said…
thx for your tutorial

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